Carter review of initial teacher training (ITT)

The aims of this review were: to define effective [initial teacher training] ITT practice; to assess the extent to which the system currently delivers effective ITT; to recommend where and how improvements could be made; and to recommend ways to improve choice in the ITT system by improving the transparency of course content and method. It is clear that ITT has to prepare teachers to be able to cope effectively in the classroom in terms of both the knowledge and the practical skills that they will require. ITT should provide a foundation for on-going development by providing an appropriate combination of access to the expertise of teachers and pupil learning contexts, as well as engagement with and experience of relevant educational research. However effective ITT may be, it is crucial that structures are in place to ensure that [newly qualified teachers] NQTs are well supported during their induction year and indeed throughout their careers. Effective programmes of ITT can be limited if they are not built upon in ways that take teachers' professional understanding and skills further forward in a structured way, well beyond the point of induction.

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